Taximeters



W. HAUPT TAXIMETERS Original Filed May 2,4, 1955 Nov. 4, 1958 Q. m. uw,

N m, W

Patented Nov. 4, 1958 TAXIMETERS Wilhelm Haupt, Villingen, Schwarzwald, Germany, as-

signor to Kienzle Apparate G. m. b. H., Villingen, Schwarzwald, Germany Original application May 24, 1955, Serial No. 510,662. Divided and this application .lune 4, 1957, Serial No. 663,494

Claims priority, application Great Britain May 25, 1954 3 Claims. (Cl. 23S-47) This application is a divisional application from patent application Serial No. 510,662 led May 24, 1955.

Taximeters are commonly provided with a so-called transport shaft which is driven in accordance with distance travelled by the vehicle and also by time for which the vehicle is hired or stopped, the distance drive overrunning the time drive atfappropriate speeds by means of a unidirectional clutch. The transport shaft drives fare indicating means through suitable connections. The taximeter has a control member such as a knob or flag which is turned by the operator into the For Hire, Hired and Stopped positions. When he turns this member from the Stopped to the For Hire position the transport shaft and other associated parts must be returned to their normal or starting positions, this return movement being commonly known as zeroising The object of the present invention is to provide means of simple construction for zeroising such a shaft.

According to the invention the taximeter is provided with a shaft driven in accordance with time and distance, a pinion and a projection drivably connected with said shaft, a rocking member having a concentric stop surface and carrying a resiliently mounted toothed element engageable with said pinion, said element having an abutment surface engageable by said projection, and means for rocking said member into a rst position corresponding to the Hired and Stopped conditions and into a second position corresponding to the For Hire condition, said pinion riding over the teeth of the toothed element in the rst position and being driven by the toothed element to zeroise the said shaft as the latter moves from first to second position whereupon the projection moves the toothed element out of mesh with the pinion on reaching the second position.

The invention will now be more fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of a zeroising device made in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 on Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional View also on the line 2-2 on Figure 1 but showing the parts in a different position.

A shaft 18 constitutes the aforesaid transport shaft which is driven through two rollers uni-directional clutches and drives the fare indicating means through a one step snail cam. On the shaft 18 is Xed a drive pinion 52. Rivetted to the pinion 52 is a disc 53 having a projection or pin 54. A rocking lever 55 is carried pivotally on a bearing post 56. This lever 55 has a stop segment 57, which has its centre of curvature in the axis of the post 56. This stop segment 57 has on its right hand end a bearing post 58 on which is carried a toothed element in the form of a segment 59 so that the latter can swing round a small angle. On this toothed segment 59 there is set a second stop segment 60 providing an abutment surface engageable by the projection 54. The toothed segment 59 is pressed upwards Patent Office -under the action of a bent spring 61 and a post 62 so far that its teeth come into engagement with the pinion 52. The toothed segment 59 with the stop 60 is guided by means of a guiding post 63 and a slot 64. The lever 55 is formed with two arms and has at its right hand lower arm a stop surface 6'5, which in the position of the parts shown in full lines in Figure l strikes against a shaft 31 and therewith limits the rotary movement of the lever 55 in counter-clockwise direction. The shaft 31 is rotatable by the driver by means of the usual control knob or ag (not shown). On the same arm of the lever 55 there is a pin 66 which co-operates with a cam 67 on the shaft 31. The lever 55 is under the action of a spring 68 which urges the lever 55 in the direction to hold the pin 66 against the cam 67.

The operation is as follows:

In Figure l the parts are shown in the positions corresponding to the For Hire condition. In the Hired and Stopped conditions the lever 55 will be about forty-five degrees offset clockwise from the position shown in Figure 1 and with the toothed segment 59 under the action of the bent spring 61 with a light pressure on the teeth of the pinion 52 of the shaft 18. As-in this position the shaft 18 and therewith the pinion 52 turn in a clockwise direction in accordance with the timeor the distance covered, the toothed segment is steadily pressed out of the teeth of the drive, whereby it swings round the post 58. The bent spring 61 is so weak that there can be not appreciable wear on the teeth. After the end of a journey the control knob, and with it the shaft 31 and the cam 67, are turned in an anticlockwise direction, so that the pin 66, which till then lay on the outer circumference of the cam 67 can enter the recess in the cam 67 and the spring 68 turns the lever in a counter-clockwise direction until the stop surface 65 engages the shaft 31. Thereby the toothed segment 59, by turning of the lever 55, is turned in a counter-clockwise direction and the pinion 52 and therewith the shaft 18 are turned in theV free-running direction of the roller uni-directional clutch which drives the shaft 18 and thereby zeroizes the fare indicating means. The position of the post 58 is chosen so that it lies behind the point of engagement of the pinion 52 and the toothed segment S9 and between the direction of the tooth pressure between the latter two elements and the aXis of rotation 56 of the rocking member 55. The direction of the tooth pressure between the toothed member 59 and the pinion 52 forms an angle of 20 with the tangent to the point of engagement between parts 52 and 59. The post 58 must be arranged between this direction of the tooth pressure and the pivotal axis 56 of the rocking element 55, because only with such an arrangement safe engagement between parts 59 and 52 is guaranteed. lf the post 58 were arranged behind the point of engagement of parts 59 and S2 but beyond the direction of the tooth pressure as seen from the pivotal aXis 56 of the rocking member then the spring 6'1 would need to be made undesirably strong to maintain a safe engagement between parts 59 and 52. The bent spring needs only to be so strong that the toothed segment and drive are in continuous contact. By turning the gear drive 52 the disc 53 and therewith the pin 54 turns in a clockwise direction. Thereby this pin 54 strikes on the stop 60 which is fixed to the toothed segment S9, lwhereby the toothed segment comes out of engagement with the pinion 52 whereby any further move ment of the segment does not operate the pinion but the latter (and the shaft 18) having reached their zero or starting position remain in that position, the pin 54 riding on the surfaces 57, 60.

I claim:

1. In a taximeter having a shaft driven in accordance with time and distance, the provision of a pinion drivably connected with said shaft, a projection also drivably connected with said shaft, a rocking member having a stop surface concentric with its rocking axis, a toothed element mounted movably on said rocking member so as to be displaceable out of engagement with said pinion, resilient means urging said element into engagement with said pinion, said element having an abutment surface engageable by said projection, and means for rocking said member into a first position corresponding to the Hired and Stopped conditions and into a second position corresponding to the For Hire condition, said pinion riding over the teeth of the toothed element in the first position and being driven by the toothed element to zeroise the said shaft as the rocking member moves from first to second position whereupon the projection moves the toothed element out of mesh with the pinion on reaching the second position.

2. In a taximeter having a shaft driven in accordance with time and distance and a control member operable by the operator into the Hired7 Stopped and For Hire positions, the provision of a pinion drivably connected with said shaft, a projection also drivably connected with said shaft, a rocking member having a stop surface concentric with its rocking axis, a toothed element mounted movably on said rocking member so as to be displaceable out of engagement with said pinion, resilient means urging said element into engagement with said pinion, said element having an abutment surface engageable by said projection, a cam operably connected with said control member, a projecting element on said rocking member and engaged by said cam, spring means for urging said rocking member in the direction to drive it from a irst to the second position said cam rocking said member into a first position corresponding to the Hired and Stopped conditions and permitting the spring to move the rocking member to a second position corresponding to the For Hire condition, said pinion riding over the teeth of the toothed element in the first position and being driven by the toothed element to zeroize the said shaft as the rocking member moves from rst to second position whereupon the projection moves the toothed element out of mesh with the pinion on reaching the second position.

3. In a taximeter having a shaft driven in accordance with time and distance, the provision of a pinion drivably connected with said shaft, a projection also drivably connected with said shaft a rocking member having a stop surface concentric with its rocking axis, a toothed element mounted pivotally on said rocking member with its teeth in a series curved about the pivotal axis of said rocking member, the pivotal axis of said toothed element being disposed in such position that the toothed member is displaceable out of engagement with the pinion, resilient means urging said element into engage' ment with said pinion, said element having an abutment surface engageable by said projection, and means for rocking said member into a first position corresponding to the Hired and Stopped conditions and into a second position corresponding to the For Hire condition, said pinion riding over the teeth of the toothed element in the first positionand being driven by the toothed element to zeroise the said shaft as the rocking member moves from first to second position whereupon the projection moves the toothed element out of mesh with the pinion on reaching the second position, said pivotal axis of said toothed element being disposed rearwardly of the point of engagement between the pinion and the toothed member during driving of the pinion and between a line representing this direction and the axis of rotation of said rocking member whereby the tooth pressure maintains engagement of the toothed element and pinion during such driving.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 323,498 Collin Aug. 4, 1885 561,129 Rein June 2, 1886 876,196 Klumb et al. Jan. 7, 1908 2,596,164 Palmer May 13, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 509,863 Canada Feb. 8, 1955 

